pen maintenance

[Gary Simmons]

How about some advise to give those that buy turned wooden pens, relative keeping them in good condition. Sometimes people ask me if they should treat them to keep the hand oils from tarnishing the wood or making it dirty.
I usually use a friction polish and frankly dont know what to tell people about keeping the wood in good condition...

thoughts??

[Jim McFarland]

I give customers an information card -- front of the card has pen type, material, refill type and change instructions -- back of the card has generic pen care instructions:

[Dan Forman]

Best thing you could do is to stop using the friction polish, as it will not stand up to hard use. Check out the finishing forum at penturners.org for info on more durable finishes. Most folks are using CA glue (very hard, very clear), or one of the high performance water based lacquers such as Unaxol or, well there is another one, but the name escapes me at the moment.

Dan

[Jim McFarland]

<snip> well there is another one, but the name escapes me at the moment <snip>

Maybe Enduro?

[Dan Forman]

Enduro is the one.

Dan

[David Washburn]

These are the main points I tell customers.

-Treat a wood pen as any other quality wood product.

- Never subject a wood pen to extreme temperature conditions, like inside a car in extreme summer heat.

-To clean, wipe off with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth. Do not use any type of harsh cleaning fluid or abrasive substance.

-Apply a coat of high quality furniture paste wax to preserve, like Renaissance wax.


Dave
www.djwooddesigns.com (http://www.djwooddesigns.com)